If you have not seen the impressive movie Kick-Ass then head HERE and purchase this film. It is one of the better super-hero movies to ever come out. EVER. If you have not read the comic then head HERE and check them out.

According to Mark Millar (the creator of Kick-Ass), the sequel is read to be made and will start production in about nine months. That is such joyful news to me.

Mark said in an interview that Kick-Ass 2 will take off right where the first one left off. So you know how Dave (Kick-Ass) has inspired others to become super heroes and fight crime? Well Red Mist has done the same thing but for people to become villains. Think about that. Let it marinate. That’s right. Two huge groups or gangs forming alliances in New York. Oh the carnage it will have.

MGM/FOX announced that the Robocop trilogy will be coming to Bluray on October 5th.

If you remember the first film took place in the city of the future which was Detroit, BUT…was all filmed in the great city of Dallas. Throughout the whole movie you can see the downtown skyline and uptown landmarks.

Hopefully MGM/FOX does not screw this release up. I am hoping for behind the scenes/bloopers/commentaries/deleted scenes/and interviews from present day with the actors. Do not make this a bare bones release or …..there will be…. trouble.

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on Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 at 3:50 pm and is filed under Film.
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If you have not heard the sounds of Black Joe Lewis before, get off your ass and listen to this amazing band from Austin, TX.

He has brought the best parts of James Brown, The Bar-Kays, and Lightning Joe Hopkins to his band the Honeybears. It is truly a great musical experience. One that brings you back old school when music was still, well music.

The Horns sound stunning and Joe’s vocals are loud and robust with some delicious guitars. He only has two albums out now and he is coming to Dallas on September 11th 2010 at Coca-Cola Starplex or now known as Super Pages Center. He is opening for Dave Matthews Band.

Sadly I will not be going to see him, because I am not a fan of Dave, but this is good for Black Joe Lewis so that tons of people will hear his music. Last time he played in town, Joe did a secret free show at Good Records on Greenville Ave. If I hear of this again, I will let you know.

But for now listen to his music HERE and buy tickets for his show HERE.

This entry was posted
on Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 at 1:35 pm and is filed under Events, Music.
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George Romero has given us some of the best, if not the best films in the zombie genre. Hell, he invented the genre. He has given us “Night of the Living Dead” , “Dawn of the Dead” (my personal favorite), and ” Day of the Dead”. Some twenty years later the man returned to the zombie genre and gave us “Land of the Dead” which was good on its best day. Then he gave us the Blair Witch/Cloverfield inspired “Diary of the Dead” which I thought was fantastic. A true return to his political and class statements on society as he did with the earlier films of his career.

Now with “Survival of the Dead” we get a new look into the world of Romero’s zombie universe.

Now I have been hearing quite a bit about this while it was being made, and sadly it did not get a theatrical release but maybe a handful of theatres across the states. But non the less I was looking forward to seeing it. If anything, Romero still finds the most creative and brutal ways to kill zombies so I would most likely get lucky and have a few cool blood spattered death scenes.

From most of the reviews of this I have read, it seems that most people down right hate this latest installment and they feel that Romero has lost it as a filmmaker and they wonder if he ever even had it. I whole heartedly disagree. I think his latest film “Survival of the Dead” is quite good. Not his best, but still quite good and a great addition to the evolution of the zombie franchise.

This film takes place a little while after “Diary of the Dead” took place and takes one of the smaller characters from that movie, in this case military personnel, and follows their journey through the world zombie infested lands.

Meanwhile, there is an island not too far from the New England coast where people live with very few flesh eaters still roaming around. On this island are two families that have lived on this island for quite sometime, even before the zombie outbreak. It sort of plays out like a Romeo and Juliet type of scenario where these two prosperous families hate each other for their disagreements on what to do with the zombies. One side wants to completely eradicate and kill every zombie whereas the other side wants to use the zombies for chores and slaves and keep them around and see if they can find a cure or to see if they can get the zombies to start eating animals instead of humans. Personally, I think that is a pretty good story line set up and that it takes the “Dead” franchise into another evolution of what might happen if faced with these circumstances.

So the leader of the family that wants to eradicate all zombies is exiled to the mainland and a few of his cronies follow him there. This is where the military personnel meet with him and they both decide to hitch a ride back to the island now packed with soldiers and weapons to gain control back of the island.

As you may be wondering, more zombies attack when let loose and quite a few deaths ensue, but not only from zombie attacks but from stubborn humans killing other humans which is a sad tale but also a true one.

As this film ends we are left with quite an amazing picture as to what is in store next for the evolution of zombies and how the rest of the human population will deal with it.

The death scenes are a plenty with some great gore effects. Sadly, Romero has not hired Tom Savini to do actual makeup for most of the gore, instead we get CGI gore which I hate, because it always looks ridiculous and stupid. But, when people get ripped apart and their guts spill, it is all real make up and gore which put a smile on my face.

In all i thought this was a solid add to the franchise and look forward to whatever sequels Romero tends to make and to see his social commentary on society put into his work. Kudos to you Romero.

In addition, you will get an AWESOME intro to the movie by Romero himself with zombies in the background working on the movie set and destroying things and when the zombies destroy things and interrupts Romero, he gets his sweet sweet revenge. It is really funny.

This entry was posted
on Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 at 1:17 pm and is filed under Film.
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Writer Jay Cocks who wrote “Gangs of new York” was asked by Bob Dylan to write a script of his legendary song “Brownsville Girl” from the Knocked Out Loaded album. It was co-written by Sam Shepard if you remember.

Sounds like this could be an awesome western film. Supposedly “Crazy Heart” director Scott Cooper has been approached to direct with Brad Pitt asked to star as Henry Porter.

This sounds like it could be one of the better movies to come out if it gets green lit.

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on Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 at 10:59 am and is filed under Film, Music.
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I recently went to Good Records on lower Greenville and found some excellent used vinyl and some new vinyl as well. I got:

The Rolling Stones: Exile on Main St. (standard edition vinyl) – Remastered

This is a two vinyl set remastered on 180 gram vinyl. It sounds PERFECT. I haven’t heard this album in a long time, and when I first put it on, it was like hearing for the first time all over again. Every song sounded magical. New even.

Ventilator Blues, Casino Boogie, Torn and Frayed, and Shine a Light are my favorites on this album. Blues, Rock, R&B, and Country riddle this album all the way through.

Sadly with the standard edition of this vinyl there are no inserts of any kind and no mp3 free download. I think for $40.00 that it should have included the download. I also think that all new vinyl that comes out should include the free mp3 download of the album. Sadly it does not work that way. I also did not want to shell out the $250.00 for the mega super awesome edition of this vinyl yet. Although it includes tons of other goodies.

I highly recommend this album. I know all of you have heard it before, but the sounds of vinyl are far superior to any cd or mp3 you might listen to. It is a breath taking experience.

This stand the test of time.

Queen: News of the World (Vinyl)

This was in the used vinyl section and I haven’t seen this album often on vinyl.

This album being released in the 1970’s seemed to be stepping towards the Punk scene rather than the later Queen list.

It starts out with two of Queen’s more recognized tracks of the stadium anthem “We Will Rock You” and “We are the Champions” and Mercury’s brutal “Get Down – Make Love” is just pure awesome.

Other notable tracks are the sounds of “Fight From the Inside” and “Who Needs You”.

This album definitely tells you why Queen and Mercury deserve to wear the crown of Rock n Roll royalty.

Oingo Boingo: Nothing to Fear

For a time in the 1980’s Oingo Boingo was right up there with top bands performing at the time. Richard Elfman started this amazing trippy band in the vein of Frank Zappa and Spike Jonze performing unique synth and styles of ballet music and other foreign entities. Richard Elfman passed on his duties to younger brother Danny Elfman who is known for his many musical scores in movies, mostly in collaboration with Tim Burton Films and of course the Futrama theme.

If you know nothing about Oingo Boingo, this album is a good place to start. There is not a bad or soft and weak song on this album.

Songs like “Reptiles and Samurai” or “Running on a Treadmill”, or even the great “Wild Sex in the Working Class” will instantly hook you into loving this eclectic band of the 80’s.

I wish I could have seen them perform live.

Sid & Nancy Soundtrack

Another gem from the used section, one I have not actually seen before. The soundtrack to the infamous movie Sid & Nancy.

If you have not seen this movie, go out and see it. It is a biopic of Sid Vicious, known as the bassist for the band The Sex Pistols. Gary Oldman played Vicious. An excellent film and look into the life of Sid and Girlfriend Nancy.

The soundtrack is kick-ass of course. Joe Strummer, The Pogues, Circle Jerks, Pray for Rain, and John Cale perform on this excellent soundtrack.

A great find.

Prince and the Revolution/Kiss

Sometimes when you find Prince’s KISS on vinyl and it is a single, then you know it is going to be a good day.

Not only was it the single of KISS, but the extended version which I have never heard. I quite liked it. A couple of minutes added to the original makes room for more dancing.

On side B is Love or Money which is not great but not bad either. Basically I just got this album for KISS. Also, there is a picture of 1980’s movie starlet Jaime Gertz on the back cover. Or at least what looks like her.

Great find.

Galactic: ya-ka-may

If you have not heard of the band Galactic, then you should definitely treat yourself and pick up one of their albums. Ya-ka-may is their most recent effort and it does not dissapoint.

You can describe Galactic as Funk rubbed with jazz and soaked in a New Orleans swamp and roasted with blues and sprinkled with hip/hop.

This is New Orleans based so you know this is top notch music making.

The biggest known guests are Irma Thomas, John Boutte, and Allen Toussaint who lend their talents to this album.

“Do It Again” and “Double It”are a couple of my favorite tracks on the album.

Ya-ka-may named after New Orleans street food mixes tons of musical styles that fits perfectly together. This album is soulful, energizing, and most of al FUNKY.

Galactic is a must listen.

This entry was posted
on Monday, August 30th, 2010 at 11:39 pm and is filed under Music.
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On September 1st and 2nd at 8:00pm at the Meyerson the Dallas Symphony Orchestra will be playing music of the King Of Pop. Michael Joseph Jackson.

From his early years with the Jackson 5 to his mega-hit album Thriller and beyond, Michael Jackson stormed the music industry with hit after hit. The Music of Michael Jackson with the DSO will take you through each era of this storied performer from ABC, I’ll Be There and Got To Be There through Beat It, Thriller, Rock With You, The Way You Make Me Feel and many more!

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on Monday, August 30th, 2010 at 10:35 pm and is filed under Events, Music.
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This past weekend at the New Beverly in L.A., a double feature of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure and Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey was screened and was SOLD OUT. As it should be. Bill (Alex Winter) was there live in person to introduce the films and do a Q & A.

Someone asked if there was going to be a third film and Alex said that he and Keanu and Ed Solomon have been brainstorming ideas and that they want to make an amazing third film and not a crappy one like so many sequels these days. That had ideas even to make a rated R third film. If they come up with a story that was worth making it will definitely happen.

I can’t express how badly I want a third Bill and Ted film. Sadly there will be no George Carlin, but to see these characters on screen in a new adventure would rock my geek world.

Yes, I just received an email from X-BOX informing me that they are increasing subscription prices for Gold Level membership to their X-BOX live subscription by $10.00. Now it will be $60.00 per year rather than $50.00 per year.

So it will be roughly $5.00 a month now starting in November. Not a huge hike up but still, more money.

I read further into this and was informed of some new changes and upgrades such as: ESPN will be streaming live and on demand content and highlights. So from what X-BOX says you can watch just about any game you want to. Sounds great if you love college sports. In addition, a couple of Kinect features will be added such as video and interaction with your friends online. The last upgrade they mentioned was Hulu Plus, which I am not sure what that means yet, but hopefully it means all access pass to tons of shows through Hulu.

In all, some cool features will be added that I will use and X-BOX still has the best online networking around. Plus when Halo Reach and Call of Duty Black Ops are released it will be all worth it.

Tell me what you think of the price increase.

This entry was posted
on Monday, August 30th, 2010 at 9:37 pm and is filed under News.
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I should let you know that the less you know about The Last Exorcism, the better it will be for you. If you are a fan of horror movies in general then I believe you will enjoy this film.

Now I am sure you have all seen the previews and viral marketing for this movie on the internet or chat roulette and other postings that show special effects and CGI. Well I can tell you that there is none of that in the film except for a little hint of it.

This story is told as a documentary in the vein of Blair Witch or any of the Christopher Guest movies. It follows a man by the name of Cotton who is a man who has completely lost his faith in religion and GOD. But he still chooses to be the minister of a church and lead his congregants in prayer. He is also known for performing around 150 exorcisms in his lifetime.

He hires a documentary crew to show people how GOD is not real and exorcism is not real. This shows how he adds strings and smoke and mirrors to show the illusion that GOD or a demon has taken control of somebody. This is fairly humorous and sad at the same time. I’m sure people actually do this.

So basically Cotton tells us that he gets letters quite a bit from people writing to him to come and perform an exorcism. He picks a random one and he and his film crew drive out to a small country town to a family where this supposed event is taking place.

From here the story goes into two stages of an exorcism. The first one is Cotton doing all the fake magical illusions to make it seem that he is really exorcising demons out of his subject.

All is well. Or is it?

I do not want to spoil the rest for you for it promises to scare you and have a few big surprises. The twists will have you discussing the film in whole for the next couple of days. The film gets more intense as the film plays out and as Cotton is getting more convinced that this exorcism might be the real thing. Trust me. This will scare you. The climax of the film is very rewarding and not only will you want to see more, but you will draw your own conclusions.

The main girl in this film is brilliant. I hope to see more from her. The way she bends and transforms is frightening.

The big twist ending had me wanting more because what takes place is some serious GRADE A scary shit that will leave you and your friends discussing throughout the night.

Loved it. Congrats to Eli Roth and Daniel Stamm.

This entry was posted
on Monday, August 30th, 2010 at 8:29 pm and is filed under Film.
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Finally the first in the epic trilogy will be released in High-Definition tomorrow. Blu ray is so amazing and I cannot wait to see how this movie looks. I am of course talking about The Evil Dead. The film that brought Bruce Campbell from ordinary man to a man-god. He is uncle sam’s favorite actor and he is such a joy to watch in pretty much everything.

Sam Raimi made this film while in college with friends on a low low budget. According to Stephen King it was the Ultimate in Grueling Terror. He wasn’t lying.

I will update you with my blu ray review of this soon. Looking froward to the new commentary by Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell.

This entry was posted
on Monday, August 30th, 2010 at 5:17 pm and is filed under Comics.
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